Films (i.e., layers) of metals and metal oxides, particularly the heavier elements of Group VIII, are becoming important for a variety of electronic and electrochemical applications. For example, high quality RuO.sub.2 thin films deposited on silicon wafers have recently gained interest for use in ferroelectric memories. Many of the Group VIII metal films are generally unreactive toward silicon and metal oxides, resistant to diffusion of oxygen and silicon, and are good conductors. Oxides of certain of these metals also possess these properties, although perhaps to a different extent.
Thus, layers of Group VIII metals and metal oxides, particularly the second and third row metals (e.g., Ru, Os, Rh, Ir, Pd, and Pt), have suitable properties for a variety of uses in integrated circuits. For example, they can be used in integrated circuits for electrical contacts. They are particularly suitable for use as barrier layers between the dielectric material and the silicon substrate in memory devices, such as ferroelectric memories. Furthermore, they may even be suitable as the plate (i.e., electrode) itself in capacitors. Iridium oxide is of particular interest as a barrier layer because it is very conductive (30-60 .mu..OMEGA.-cm) and is inherently a good oxidation barrier.
Capacitors are the basic charge storage devices in random access memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices, static random access memory (SRAM) devices, and now ferroelectric memory (FE RAM) devices. They consist of two conductors, such as parallel metal or polysilicon plates, which act as the electrodes (i.e., the storage node electrode and the cell plate capacitor electrode), insulated from each other by a dielectric material (a ferroelectric dielectric material for FE RAMs). It is important for device integrity that oxygen and/or silicon not diffuse into or out of the dielectric material. This is particularly true for ferroelectric RAMs because the stoichiometry and purity of the ferroelectric material greatly affect charge storage and fatigue properties.
Thus, there is a continuing need for methods and materials for the formation of metal layers, such as iridium metal or metal oxide layers, which can function as barrier layers, for example, in integrated circuits, particularly in random access memory devices. There is a particular need for metal or metal oxide layers in contact openings which are extremely small and require conformally filled layers.